Welcome to Ram's abode

A trip to Srirangapatnam/Mysore – Part 1

Six of us went on a one day trip to Srirangapatnam and Mysore on Saturday. Though there is a package tour offered by KSTDC, we rented a qualis for the trip as the cost per head wasn’t coming out to be much different from the KSTDC package and because it gave us more convenience to visit the places we wanted. We started from Bangalore at about 7:30AM and reached back at midnight.

Srirangapatnam is an island surrounded by two tributaries of the river Cauvery and is about 125 kms from Bangalore by road. It was the capital of Mysore when Tipu Sultan ruled it for 17 years from 1782 to 1799. We visited:
1) the spot where Tipu was found dead after being killed in war during the siege of Srirangapatnam
2) Tipu Sultan’s Lal Mahal palace, not much of which is left to see. It is believed to have been destroyed in a fire
3) Ranganathaswami temple, which has the deity – Sri Ranganathar (Vishnu) in a sleeping posture
4) Dariya Daulat Bagh (garden) and Tipu’s summer palace
5) Sangam, where the two tributaries of the river Cauvery join and proceed ahead

You can also see the Jumma Masjid on the way to the Dariya Daulat Bagh and Gumbuz, the place where Tipu lies buried along with his parents on the way to Sangam from Tipu’s summer palace. We could also see whatever little is left of the fort that once surrounded Srirangapatnam.

Here are some pics taken in Srirangapatnam:

1) Lal Mahal (Tipu’s palace):

This is all that is left of the palace now

2) Sri Ranganathaswami Temple:

Kaustubh & Ramki

3) Jumma Masjid

4) Dariya Daulat Bagh & Summer PalaceBagh; the summer palace is the one seen at the rear end

Bagh’s entrance

Trees in the baghRamki … whats he up to?Cannon

5) Sangam (confluence)

The two shivlings at the confluence – the small one at the bottom-right corner and the larger one in the centre of the picBoating … you can start from the ghat, go around the shivling and come back for Rs. 20/personThe larger shivling – up close

You can visit this link to know more about Tipu Sultan. The link also has a picture gallery worth watching. It contains snaps of portraits and belongings of Tipu Sultan that you would see in the museum inside Tipu’s summer palace. The site also describes, along with photographs, what all you can see in Srirangapatnam.
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More snaps and details of the rest of the trip in part 2 and part 3.